


Only Human

by AnitaAlways



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Ari is too good for this world, Cally can and will mess you up by being smarter than you, Freak Fortress - Freeform, Gen, Life screws over 3 kids, Marcus does some questionable stuff, TF2 Freaks, You're about to read them going through Hell, and is always ready to throw hands, and they will hurt kids, at all, it's just that said kids don't mind hurting them back, like seriously, lots of Freaks aren't good people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:13:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23812135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnitaAlways/pseuds/AnitaAlways
Summary: Three human beings, mere teenagers, find themselves put in the world of Monsters and Freaks when Cally, the smartest girl in school, hacks into a DiscRED server about the apocalypse by accident. As it turns out, she, Marcus, and Ari are prophesied heroes that are supposed to prevent the end of the world as we know it, which is hard to do when a lot of Freaks are coming for their heads and they have no clue what they’re doing.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Down the Rabbit Hole

In Cally’s defense, it wasn’t even her fault. She had been bored. And she needed something to do. So finding a website protected by a password for no apparent reason? Perfect. 

It took her 30 minutes to hack- uh, work her way into the system, and when she was in, she got curious. Freaks, huh? A whole website/forum dedicated to them. Fictional characters. What a freaking joke. There wasn’t even a full story. 

But she figured that she had spent all that time trying to get here, so she was obligated to poke around. There was a set of profiles, a link to a DiscRED server, and a TumBLU blog link. Cally rolled her eyes and headed to the server. Four people were online: CrazyFace, Floating Jarate, Bottle o’ Glue, and PieIsBetterThanCake. Cally tilted her head. “What the…” It seemed like random messages for about a page, but then Floating Jarate brought up something called the Cataclysm. And how things were falling into place. 

Cally raised an eyebrow and searched for all Cataclysm posts- and had to stop herself from dropping her laptop. This Cataclysm, if the posts were right, was the end of the world. Destruction of mankind. Apocalypse. They were talking about remaking the world, wiping out humanity, causing trouble. Cally blanched. She had to find the cops. She had to get help. She had to- 

_Who are you?_ Floating Jarate sent. 

Cally jumped. OK, so they got notified when someone new joined the server. Good to know. 

_Nobody special,_ she replied. _I got here by accident._

_How’d you get here by ‘accident?’ This is a private server!_ CrazyFace demanded. 

_Uh, okay, this is gonna make me sound crazy, but I hacked it. I was trying to get into a different server._

_How do you hack into one server while trying to get into another?_ PieIsBetterThanCake asked. 

_I guess you both use the same website._ Cally had to admit, that excuse was weak, but what else could she say? 

_Yeah, right. And I’m a cyborg with a jar of p!ss for a head._

_Uh...Dude. You literally are that._

Cally stared at the screen, reading the posts from Floating Jarate and CrazyFace. _Uh… Please tell me I'm not reading that right._

_Nice going Crazyface,_ Bottle o' Glue sent dryly. 

_Oh. Uh...I mean, no! He’s definitely not a cyborg with a jar of p!ss for a head!_

_You’re not making this any better!_ griped PieIsBetterThanCake. 

Cally started. _Wait. Jar of pee? Like that one Internet character?_

_Internet character?_ CrazyFace repeated. 

_Yeah! They made these weird videos about him. Looked like the person was on drugs._

_Videos? Of who?_ Floating Jarate inquired. 

_Uh, a lot. The first one I saw, I think his name was Stu Pidface?_ Cally leaned back. _I spent a week trying to make sense of one thirty second video._ Against her better judgement, Cally asked, _So what's the Cataclysm?_

_Like we’d tell you, hacker!_

_Crazyface, she can read the messages we’ve sent already. I think she already has the gist of it,_ said Bottle o' Glue, and Cally imagined a sigh. 

_Uh, look. I don’t blame you for being upset with me._ Cally raised an eyebrow. _Though, just a suggestion, I would get better security. A teenager shouldn’t be able to hack into your server._

A moment later, she was banned. “Okay, I had that coming,” Cally mused. Saving some screenshots, she leaned back. “Marcus is gonna freak.” 

An hour later, miles away, a man on the phone sighed. "Do you know how this looks? You set up the security! I don't know how she got through either, but I have a hunch. I sent RED to investigate. Look, he helped us fight Grave, I'm sure he can take out one girl. And if my hunch is right, we won't have to worry about the Trio coming to stop us. A third practically gift wrapped herself for us. Okay, sure, just relax. Bye."


	2. Three's Company

The first thing Cally did when she got to free period the next day was go to the Theater Room where two other teens were waiting for her. 

One, a black teen clad in jeans, a button up T-shirt, and a leather jacket, waved at her. “Yo, Cal. Took you long enough.” 

Cally scoffed. “Screw you, Marcus, I have to get all the way across the building.” 

Marcus laughed and ruffled her hair. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ari wants to make some changes to the routine.” 

“This close to Showtime, Ari?” grinned Cally. “It took him three weeks to perfect the dance. I don’t think there’s any part of me that hasn’t been injured yet.” 

Ari giggled. “Oh, come on, he wasn’t that bad.” 

“You’re a terrible liar,” Cally chuckled. “He was horrible. Remember the first time he dipped me?” 

“That was awful! You hit your head!” Ari whined. 

Marcus rolled his eyes and headed with Cally to the middle of the dance floor. “So, you texted us last night, Cal? About a weird online thing?” 

Cally followed Marcus’s lead as Ari turned on the music he’d made. “Yeah. I don’t know if it was a joke or not, but it talked about something called the Cataclysm. If I’m right, it’s a plan to destroy humanity? Weird stuff.” 

Marcus messed up a turn, but recovered quickly. “Destroy humanity? The heck?” 

“That’s what I said. They banned me before I could get more info,” groaned the teen. 

Marcus frowned. “How do you get into a private server?” 

“That server has poor security.” 

Marcus deadpanned. “And the fact that it had security at all didn’t deter you?” 

Cally winced, as if the idea was foreign to her. “Uh… no? Why would it?” 

“You want the short list or the long?” Marcus asked dryly. 

Cally sighed. “Look, I don’t know. I just felt something really strong in me tell me I needed to do it. I have no clue why. And I don’t know what to do.” 

Marcus hummed. “Maybe we can solve this after practice. We can look stuff up during class.” 

Cally grinned. “Thanks,” she said, spinning into a dip with Marcus, who dropped her by accident. “Dude.” 

“Sorry.” 

The next hour, for Marcus, was spent on his laptop in free time. “Alright,” he muttered, “so Freak Fortress, huh? Let’s see what all their deal is.” 

The article he managed to find was on Stu Pidface, and it read as follows: 

_Stu Pidface is a deformed, heavily insane Freak. He takes on the appearance of a deformed RED Heavy, his build being much slimmer than what is typical for his class. His face is distorted and always has a bizarre expression on his face. He wears a pair of Summer Shades, and can be seen occasionally smoking a cigarette._

_Stu Pidface is a completely random and unpredictable Freak. One of the most unpredictable among Freaks. His speech patterns, mannerisms, and actions are truly bizarre, even when compared to similarly insane Freaks such as Soljah. Stu Pidface’s abilities are potentially limitless and can defy the very laws of our world. He can fly, teleport, fit inside containers too small for him, summon objects out of nowhere, expand any part of his body, eat anything, make things spontaneously combust, turn people into inanimate objects, stick to any surface, lift and throw things many times his own size, defy gravity, turn into things, and much, MUCH more._

_However, despite his wide arrange of abilities, they are extremely unreliable and inconsistent. Stu Pidface has been seen withstanding explosions that would have severely injured the feared Painis Cupcake, but a moment later, he can be knocked clean out by a simple stuffed animal being thrown at his head. These abilities could potentially mean Stu Pidface is one of the most powerful Freaks ever known, but also has just as much potential to be one of the weakest Freaks ever known._

_His stupidity is also a heavy liability to him, as he doesn’t seem to be able to formulate complex plans at all, so even slightly more intelligent Freaks than him could theoretically take him out. Not that it would matter, though, seeing as Stu Pidface has come back after being killed many, MANY times._

Marcus groaned as he went to the next article. “Lucky us, we have this to deal with. Cally, I swear, if this guy or his buddies come after us, then the second this is over, I’m gonna put you six feet under.” 

That night, there was a figure outside of Cally’s home. “I’m here. The scanner is picking up stuff.” A chuckle. “What do you know? Jarate was right.” 

“You doubted him?” a shadow asked, a dim red glow shining from under his hideous mask. 

“A little. His last attempt to find one of the three didn’t go well.” 

“His tech is fickle, but his service is invaluable.” 

“Yes, I know. Should we deal with her now or just check if she’s actually what we think she is?” The figure pulled a knife. 

“Check. If this is who we think she is, she hasn’t unlocked her powers yet and she can be disposed of tomorrow.” 

The figure grinned. “Gotcha.”


	3. Oh, Crap

Marcus was an athlete. It was only natural that he would be a basketball player, and blowing off steam? A huge bonus. He was in practice the next day working on layups. “I’ve done 23 sets, Jack, what’s the deal?” he complained, tying his shoes. 

“Just trying to keep you on your toes. Here, you look pretty rough,” Jack said, handing Marcus a Gatorade. 

“Thanks, man. Looking forward to the big game, eh?” 

“Sure am.”

Marcus tossed Jack the ball. “We’re so gonna end the Destroyers.” 

Jack laughed. “Oh yeah. Total wipeout,” he grinned, going for a layup. “How’s that talent show gig of yours coming? Real High School Musical type stuff, eh?” 

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Screw you, it’s fun,” he shot back, downing the entire bottle. “You know, Cally got herself into a little bit of trouble. Hacked into someone else’s server.” 

Jack scoffed. “Pft. Her?” 

“You act like you’re surprised. Cal is the smartest person at the school, probably, and maybe even on Earth. Of course she can get into a server.” 

Jack shrugged. “Fair. She’s here, right? I mean, I know it’s Saturday, but the talent show is tonight.” 

Marcus nodded. “Yeah. She…” Suddenly, the teen stumbled back, feeling drowsy. “She wan… Wha…” 

Marcus collapsed, fast asleep, and Jack grinned. “Heh. Sucker,” he laughed, uncloaking to reveal a RED Spy. 

Cally, a couple minutes, was in a classroom mixing the music for the act. Without even looking up, she waved. “Hey, Marcus.” 

“Hey, Cal. How’s it going?” 

“Not good. I’ve only got a bit left, but it’s the hardest part.” 

The teen grinned. “I never did understand why you didn’t pick the hard stuff first.” 

Cally twitched at that. “No? Well, you wouldn’t. You’re not the type to work your way up to hard stuff. Remember your playthrough of _Death Match_?” 

Marcus scoffed. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what does it sound like now?” 

Cally frowned and played it. Then she dialed a number on her phone. 

“Who ya calling?” 

“You,” Cally replied. Marcus’s eyes widened as Cally waited for sound. “Hm. Well, isn’t this interesting? You never forget your phone.” 

“I-” 

“Who are you?” Cally asked, standing up. “What do you want?” 

The fake sighed. “This would have been so much easier if you’d fallen for it,” he said, uncloaking into the Spy and pulling out a syringe. 

Cally blanched and backed up, closing her laptop and holding it tight. “Are you here because of that server?” 

“It’s nothing personal, kid, I just have to shut you up.” The Spy lunged at Cally, who ducked and headed for the door. 

“Crapcrapcrapcrap-” she chanted, realizing that the door was locked. I have to get out of here! 

As she was chased around the room. Cally picked up a dropped hairpin and a paper clip, then worked her way to the door a couple times. At visit number 3, the door opened, and Cally sped out. “Marcus! Ari!” 

Marcus’s head spun as he sat up. “Ugh… I’m burning up, what ha-” 

“Marcus! Ari!” Cally’s voice came, and Marcus remembered. Snapping to attention, he grabbed a baseball bat and stood by the door, hiding. The second he saw the Spy, he charged out, swinging the bat. 

About half an hour later, the Spy woke up with a pain in his head. “What…” 

Marcus scowled. “Afternoon. Can we talk?” 

The Spy groaned. “I must be getting rusty.” 

Marcus sneered. “Look, buddy, I-” 

“Marcus, calm down,” Cally smiled nervously. "Sir, we would really appreciate it if you told us why you came after me." 

"Suppose I refuse," the man replied, tugging at the ropes. 

Without saying a word, Marcus pulled a Glock from his jacket, racked the slide, and pointed it at his captive's head, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head expectantly. Something dark flashed in his eyes, but no one noticed it. Except the man. 

"You make your point well," he replied, gulping. "You see, it isn’t just because you know too much. If it was I would have been trying to kill you. But basically, you’re dangerous and we need your power eliminated for that thing you saw on the server.” 

Cally gulped. “Oh… And Marcus?” 

"Knows too much."

Marcus hissed, and Cally waved. “Cut it out, Marcus.”

“I’m literally pointing a gun to someone’s head to get him to explain attacking you. And we have to go out there later with you-know-who later. I’m allowed to be jumpy.” 

“Where did you even get that?” 

“I’ll never tell,” Marcus replied.


	4. Hit First

“So we’re not telling Ari about this, right?” Cally asked after they left the Spy in the room. “I mean, she’d freak if we told them.”

Marcus nodded. “Yeah, we keep this between us. And call the cops after our act.”

Cally nodded back. “Gotcha.”

With that plan in mind, Marcus and Cally met Ari onstage an hour before the show. “Alright, Ar, you ready?”

“Yeah,” smiled the blonde. “What took so long?”

“We got in a fight,” Marcus replied, “but it’s all good now.”

Ari squeaked. “A fight?” they whined. “What happened? Did they hurt you? Are you both okay?”

Cally smiled, ruffling Ari’s hair. “Yeah, we’re fine. Marcus saved my butt back there.”

Marcus held up deuces. “Yeah, I did. Knocked the f-” Pausing, he averted his eyes from Ari and continued, “fellow out with this.” Holding up the bat, he grinned, any bashfulness gone.

Cally rolled her eyes. “Do you have to get cocky?”

Marcus shrugged. “No. But I like to.”

“Fair.” Cally grabbed her outfit from the stage. “Alright. When are we going on?”

“Last act,” Ari beamed. “And I even got the spotlights and stuff like I said! It’s gonna be awesome!” Cally smiled. “I’m sure it will.”

The show was a smashing success up until the final act. Marcus, clad in a Broadway tux, Cally, in a sparkling flamenco dress, and Ari, in a cutesy pantsuit with a train, were gathered backstage.

“Alright, remember. We want this to be awesome!” Ari beamed, fixing her suit’s tie.

“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” Marcus chuckled. “I still can’t believe you talked me into this stupid getup. The only two good things about it are the stick and the hat.”

Cally jerked up, as if personally offended by the callous statement. “ _Dancing cane_ and _top hat_!”

Marcus shrugged. “Hey, long as I can hit people with it if it comes to that, I could care less what it’s called.”

Ari giggled at Cally’s subsequent angry vocalisations. “Come on, Cal, relax. We have a show to wrap up.”

“You’re right. Let’s go out there.”

It caught Marcus and Cally’s attention that everyone was sitting away from one guy, but they couldn’t point that out. Instead, they flanked Ari and got into a pose. The stage lit up, and Ari nodded at the sparkling-dress clad piano player, who started a soft song. Then, Cally started singing.

_I’ve seen ‘em come, and I’ve seen ‘em go._

_There’s one thing that I know._

Marcus took her hand and spun her slowly, continuing the song.

_You gotta give the people what they want,_

_Or you’ll wind up back in Kukomo, Nebraska…_

The piano player grinned at the band members on the other side of the gym, who started playing a showy tune for Ari.

_They like it big, they like it loud._

_Maybe a little bit jazzy sometimes._

Cally smiled at Marcus before singing,

_All you hopefuls, just listen to me._

_You don’t have to be good, but you had better be…_

The stage lights dulled, just long enough for the backdrop curtain to lower before a spotlight illuminated Marcus.

_BIG AND LOUD!_

Ari joined in, spinning.

_BIG AND LOUD!_

All 3 teens sang in harmony as a disco ball went off above them.

_Gonna make your mamma proud!_

_Make it BIG…_

The band swelled up the music, clearly having fun.

_AND…_

Marcus and Cally made a show of picking up Ari and holding them up, and all 3 were tossed microphones to sing into.

_LOUUUUUUUUUUD!_

When the song ended, Marcus and Cally tossed Ari up like cheerleaders, caught her, and did dramatic poses. The entire auditorium, including Lonely Guy, stood and applauded, and Ari almost squealed as the three took their bows.

“That was awsome!” she beamed backstage once everyone was gone. “You guys rocked it!”

Cally blushed. “Aw…”

Marcus scratched the back of his head. “Heh, yeah, we did.” Turning to Cally, he then prompted, “Hey, Cal, can you go check on that thing we had to take care of?”

Cally, having nearly forgotten, nodded. “Oh, yeah. Sure thing.”

Marcus smiled at Ari. “Hey, Ar, if you go wait onstage, we would appreciate the heck out of it.”

Ari nodded. “Is… everything okay?”

“Yeah, Cal and I just had something we needed to take care of.”

“Alright. See ya!” Ari smiled, then headed out to the crowd.

Marcus pulled out his phone when it started ringing and sighed. “Uh oh. Yeah, Cal?”

“Marcus, how tight did you make the knots?”

“Decently tight. Why?”

“Because creepy suit guy isn’t here.” Marcus had to choke back a swear. “What?”

“I swear he isn’t here. I’m here now. I don’t know where he is.” “Alright, get back over here. We can come up with something later.”

Cally sighed. “Fine. I- OH CRAP!!!”

Whatever happened next, Marcus didn’t know, because Cally hung up. “Alright, Marcus, think through this. What could happen now? Where should you go? Do you have your Glock?” A quick holster check and Marcus sighed. “Alright. Yes, you have it. Thank frick.” Drawing it, the teen looked around. Nothing he could see, but if he wasn’t careful, that would bite him in the butt. So he headed down the hall, watching for danger.

Meanwhile, Cally was being held at gunpoint. “I’m beginning to regret not taking you to the station.”

“I’m sure you are. Now. We can do this one of two ways, and you’re smart enough to guess what they are.”

Cally nodded. “Yep. Least noticeable way out is the west hall.”

The Spy scoffed. “And I’m supposed to trust you?”

“You can choose not to, but I know the place better than you.” The Spy sneered and started taking her to the east hall, missing her grin.

Marcus, meanwhile, had gone to the west hall. “Cal? Cal! Where are you? Are you alright?”

“You should be more worried about yourself, mate,” came a voice from above, and Marcus did a quick roll out of the way as someone dropped from the ceiling.

“HOLY SH- WHO ARE YOU?!” Marcus shrieked, tightening his grip on the cane.

“Eh, who I am doesn’t matter. What I’m here to do does matter. Specifically, I’m here to deal with you.” The man, who Marcus identified as Lonely Guy, was dressed in black and red, wore a tattered hat, and was armed with a big, ugly knife. “Nothing personal, but you know too much and we really can’t afford to let you live.”

Marcus sneered. “We? I only see one cracker standing in front of me.”

“Isn’t cracker a slur?”

“I don’t throw them around often, but you just told me you want me dead, man. I think you deserve a slur.” Marcus glared. “You would throw a slur at anyone who wanted you dead for no good reason, too.”

The man scoffed. “Fair. And for the record, I’m Australian. You used the wrong one.”

“Explains the funny accent,” Marcus smiled, then had to duck. “WHOA!”

The man was swinging at Marcus, faster than anyone had ever swung before. Marcus was doing flips, somersaults, and cartwheels to avoid them. “What- how- when?!”

A grin was all he got. “Part of being a Freak, kid.” Before Marcus could react, he got a boot to the gut, downing him. “Fights are usually short.”

Marcus coughed, groaning. “Yeah, noticed,” he replied. Once the man reached for him, though, Marcus swung the cane, hitting the man in the eye, and ran for it.

“YOU LITTLE-” What was said after that, Marcus missed, running for the east hall.

In the east hall, Cally was looking around at the lockers. “You know, whatever I have must be real important if you’re kidnapping a child. What is it?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“I kinda do, given you kidnapped me for it,” Cally pointed out. “Marcus hasn’t got a clue what it is, either, and he’s probably in danger now, too.”

The Spy rolled his eyes. “Tough break for him. Now, would you shut up?”

Cally nodded. “Sure,” she replied. “And would you please not smoke? It’s not good for your lungs. Or mine. Secondhand smoke is dangerous enough to-”

“You’ve been spitting facts at me since I pulled a gun on you. Would you quiet down?”

Cally shrugged. “Yeah, sure.” Looking up, she noted the line of smoke detectors at the exit and started counting down silently. _3… 2… 1…_

Loud alarms went off, red lights flashed, and the sprinkler system came on. “WHAT THE-” Cally grabbed the gun from the temporarily blinded Spy.

“Super-sensitive smoke detectors. Way to catch smokers. They asked me to help with it,” she explained, running the other way.

Marcus had hidden in the biology classroom when the alarm went off and covered his mouth. “Crap…” he muttered, then focused. “Think, Marcus, think. This is clearly getting bad, so how can you get out of this and help?” Shifting, Marcus heard a few tubes clink, and in those tubes was some animal blood they were going to test the next day. “Hmm…” The next moment, everyone but Cally and Ari heard a gunshot and Marcus crying out, including the Aussie chasing him.

He grinned once he saw Marcus lying on the ground, a puddle of blood under his head. “Who shot you, kid? Eh, doesn’t matter. May as well cut you up.”

Had he been a little more observant, he would have noticed that Marcus’s hand was in his jacket. But he didn’t, and he got one bullet in the kneecap and one in the chest for his trouble. Marcus jumped right back up, smirking. “Get kneecapped!” he shouted, running back to the stage.

Ari whimpered when she saw Marcus. “Marcus, what happened to you?”

“A lot. I’ll explain in the car!” Grabbing their hand, Marcus pulled Ari out towards the exit- where Cally had been forced to the ground by the Spy.

“HELP!”

“HEY! Get off her!” Marcus shouted, pointing at the Spy, and what looked like a force field flashed in front of him before knocking him off Cally. The group, now reunited, got right into Marcus’s hoopty van and drove off.


	5. Painful Goodbyes

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Ari was shouting, panicked. Cally was in the corner, curled up and breathing hard, and Marcus was driving the car. “HOW DID YOU DO THAT? WHO WAS THAT GUY?!” 

“That was a rescue mission, I don’t know, and that guy wants to kidnap Cally,” Marcus replied. 

Cally stared. “What do you mean, you don’t know?” 

“It just happened,” Marcus replied. “You don’t think I’d have put two in his chest if I’d chosen?!” 

“How did you even get a gun?” Ari whined. 

“Stole it from Dad’s safe,” Marcus replied. “I had a feeling we didn’t need to be unprepared, given yesterday.” 

“You wouldn’t tell _me_!” Cally hissed. 

“You ain’t Ari.” 

Ari went to Cally, who hugged them. “Did you have to…?” 

“Yes. Australian guy claiming to be a Freak. Caught me in a couple places, including the arm. Hurts like a b**** up there.” 

Ari came over. “Oh no,” she said, looking at the arm. “Wait, did you get a tattoo?” Sure enough, on Marcus’s arm was an emblem. It was a red shield outline with two fists in it, along with a red star above the fists and a white star below the fists. Cally came over to look and stared. Below the shield was one word: Body. 

Marcus stared at his arm once he hit the red light. “WHAT THE HEE-ELL IS THAT?! That wasn’t there this morning!” 

“What?!” Cally choked. “You don’t just get a tattoo without going and-” Reaching out to touch it, Cally found herself burned and pulled away. “Gah!” she hissed. 

Marcus parked at a drive-thru and stared. “What the- is this some kind of magic?” 

Cally stared, wide-eyed, at the tattoo. “That thing is evil,” she said. “We need to get it removed.” 

“Ya think?!” Marcus wailed. “What the f*** did this guy do to me?!” 

“What are we gonna do?” Ari whined. “Why did that guy even attack you?” 

“He says I knew too much. That said, you should probably stay with us.” 

Cally turned. “Wait, what?” 

“You’re not telling me you’re staying at home, right? Since literal superbeings have made attempts on our lives?” Marcus asked, turning to Cally. 

“Okay, yeah, that’s fair.” 

“Alright, so. We need to pack. Like, tonight. The sooner we leave town, the more chance our families aren’t gonna get caught up in this.” 

Ari whimpered. “We… have to leave?” 

“Yes. Otherwise, they’re gonna kill our families, and then probably us,” Marcus replied. “And that’s not about to happen if I can help it.” 

“Can we at least let our families know we’re leaving?” Ari asked. She opened up his backpack and produced three pieces of paper, handing the other two to Cally and Marcus.

“Yeah,” Marcus replied. “We owe them that much.” 

With a pen and a paper, each teen sat down to write a note. 

Ari wrote: 

_Hey guys,_

_I’ll be gone for awhile. Don’t worry. I promise I’ll be safe._

_Love,_

_Ari._

Marcus wrote: 

_Yo, Mom. Yo, Dad. Yo, Janice._

_Hey, you know I ain’t about that life, but apparently there are some strong-a** people who are and they coming for my head, Cal’s head, and Ari’s head. If I stick around, they gonna hurt you, too._

_I’m gonna be back as soon as this is over._

_Janice, I better not see your grades failing._

_See ya,_

_Marcus._

Cally wrote: 

_Mom, Dad, Mary, Danny,_

_I’m in danger. Powerful people want to hurt me, and if I don’t leave, you’ll get caught in the crossfire. I have all confidence that God will see me through this, but it would be a disservice to you to continue living with you at this time. As this is the case, I will be gone for a while._

_Pray for me,_

_Cally._

“Alright. We have to get our stuff. Ari, be ready at midnight. Cal, be ready at 12:15.” 

Ari and Cally nodded. 

“Okay.” 

“Got it.”


End file.
